Dans le cadre de son plan de développement de l'économie numérique, le Ghana a fait de la numérisation des services administratifs une priorité. Cette opération de grande envergure touche l'ensemble des services publics.

Le ministère des Travaux publics et du Logement a procédé, le jeudi 12 septembre, au lancement d’une nouvelle plateforme numérique dédiée au département de contrôle des loyers. Ce portail en ligne  accessible à l’adresse https://rentcontrol.mwh.gov.gh/  vise à rendre les services liés à la location plus accessibles et transparents pour tous les citoyens ghanéens.

« Nous entrons dans l'histoire aujourd'hui, non seulement en adoptant les outils numériques, mais aussi en modifiant radicalement la façon dont les Ghanéens vivent les services. Pendant trop longtemps, les citoyens ont dû subir les inconvénients des longs trajets, des files d'attente et des processus bureaucratiques fastidieux pour accéder aux services les plus élémentaires », a déclaré le vice-ministre des Travaux publics et du Logement, Prince Hamid Armah (photo).

L'initiative marque l'achèvement de la première phase du projet de transformation numérique du ministère. L'idée de moderniser les opérations du département est née des observations faites par le vice-président du Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia, lors de ses visites de 2020. Ces visites ont mis en évidence la nécessité de réformer ce département. A ce stade, 15 bureaux répartis sur 11 régions ont été numérisés, permettant un accès simplifié et à distance aux services, particulièrement pour les habitants des grandes agglomérations. L’objectif est d’étendre cette numérisation à l’ensemble des 16 régions du pays.

Cette décision du ministère devrait renforcer l'efficacité de la prestation de services, lutter contre la corruption, améliorer la transparence et accroître l'accès à des logements locatifs abordables, adéquats et sûrs dans le pays. Le nouveau système permettra également aux Ghanéens de promouvoir leurs biens immobiliers en ligne, tout en facilitant les mises en relation entre propriétaires et locataires potentiels.

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Ghana : lancement d’une application mobile pour améliorer l'entretien des routes

In many African nations governance is riddled with a lack of transparency, which is critical for building public trust and ensuring that development initiatives are implemented effectively. The introduction of digital platforms streamlines public administration to increase transparency in government activities, addressing public concerns about unfulfilled promises and resource management.

The Kenyan government launched, yesterday September 2, two innovative digital platforms, aimed at enhancing transparency and efficiency in public administration. The platforms, the Presidential Directives Management Information System (PDMIS) and the Foreign Travel Management Information System (FOTIMS), were officially introduced at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Dr. Margaret Ndung’u, the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy (MICDE).

“The Presidential Directives Management Information System (PDMIS) and Foreign Travel Information Management System (FOTIMS) are a huge milestone in our quest to deal with obscurity in decisions undertaken as raised by Kenyans recently,” said Rigathi Gachagua in a tweet shared the same day.

This system tracks and manages directives from President William Ruto, ensuring efficient and transparent implementation. It is accessible only to high-level officials, centralizing all directives and eliminating the need for paper copies.

FOTIMS digitizes the approval process for foreign travel by senior officials, ensuring justifications are made and resources are used wisely. Access is limited to authorized personnel, enhancing oversight.

The launch of PDMIS and FOTIMS represents a key step in Kenya's digital transformation, aiming to set higher standards for accountability and efficiency in public administration.

This move aligns with the Kenyan government’s efforts to improve digital governance. In the 2022 UN E-Government Index ranking, which assesses the digital government landscape of UN member countries, the country rose from 116th to 113th out of 193 countries, reflecting its ongoing commitment to enhancing its digital government capabilities. Introducing these new digital platforms further underscores Kenya's progress in public administration, as they are likely to contribute to continued improvements in transparency, efficiency, and overall governance. 

Hikmatu Bilali

Accurate birth registration data is essential for government planning and budgeting, ensuring efficient resource allocation. It also helps monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as eliminating poverty, promoting quality education, and reducing inequality.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has underscored the critical need for e-birth registration to ensure Nigerian children obtain a legal identity. Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of UNICEF's South-West Nigeria Field Office, highlighted this during a media dialogue in Lagos on July 17.

The event, organized by UNICEF in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development and the National Population Commission (NPC), aimed to promote e-birth registration in South-West Nigeria.

Lafoucriere noted that without a birth certificate, a child remains invisible and lacks access to essential services such as protection, health, and education. "Birth registration is a fundamental human right and cornerstone of a child's legal identity," she said.

The dialogue underscored the collective effort required to ensure every Nigerian child is registered and has access to their legal rights and essential services.

According to the 2022 ‘Statistical Update on Birth Registration in Africa’ by UNICEF and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), out of the 164 million children under 5 worldwide who are unregistered, over half (approximately 91 million) reside in Africa. This lack of registration hinders effective planning and policy-making, as accurate data is crucial for these processes.

The E-birth registration will allow parents to register their children immediately after birth, addressing accessibility challenges in Nigeria. This system supports robust civil registration and generates vital statistics for effective planning and policy implementation.

Hikmatu Bilali

Investing in digital infrastructure is a significant step for African development as it is crucial in enhancing government efficiency, improving data management, and fostering economic growth. By integrating advanced technology, Nigeria sets a precedent for other African nations to modernize their operations, support digital transformation, and boost overall development.

Nigeria will launch a state-of-the-art data center with a storage capacity of 1.4 petabytes before May 29, 2024, to house critical national information, including citizens' bio-data. The Minister of Interior Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced this during a meeting with the National Union of Nigerian Associations in Italy (NUNAI) on May 20, a statement from the Interior Ministry dated the same day revealed.

Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo emphasized that adopting advanced technology would enhance efficiency and accountability across national operations, the statement read.

In its 2019 publication titled “Nigeria Digital Economy Diagnostic: A Plan for Building Nigeria’s Inclusive Digital Future,” the World Bank assessed that “Nigeria is capturing only a fraction of its digital economic potential and will need to make strategic investments to develop a dynamic, transformative digital economy.”  In line with this, in 2015, the Nigeria Communications Commission proposed transitioning the economy into a digital economy through investments in digital infrastructure.

The launch of this data center directly addresses this assessment, marking a strategic investment in Nigeria's digital infrastructure. This move is expected to unlock more of Nigeria's digital economic potential, promoting an inclusive and robust digital economy.

Hikmatu Bilali

The Angolan government has been taking many steps to reform its administration through digitalization. To speed up this process, the country is now teaming up with major tech actors.

The Administrative Modernization Institute (IMA), an auxiliary body of the Angolan Republic's presidency responsible for public administration modernization, and Dell Technologies, an American company providing tech solutions, services, and support, signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Dubai on Friday, July 14. The partnership aims to promote digital governance in Angola.

"The memorandum of understanding between the IMA and Dell Technologies establishes comprehensive cooperation in the field of digital governance. It anticipates the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and best practices, with a focus on the quality of public services, digitization of the economy, improvement of the business environment, support for entrepreneurship, training, and creation of human capital skills," the IMA wrote in a statement.

Last May, IMA took part in the "Dell Technologies World" conference. Organized by Dell, the conference aimed to accelerate digital growth and technological development in the world. The new deal aligns with the Angolan government's ambition to speed up digital growth as well, locally, and with the Angolan people, with various online government services.

Last February, Luanda announced an investment of $89 million to build its national cloud infrastructure by 2024. The digital infrastructure, built across the government’s centers, is expected to provide over 80 public services.

The partnership with Dell will support the ongoing digitization process of public administration in Angola. It should also allow the country to boost its e-government development score. On the UN’s 2022 e-Government Development Index, Angola ranked 157th out of 193 countries, placing it among countries with a medium level of electronic administration development.

Most African countries are dematerializing their administrative services to make their people's daily lives easier. Governments in these countries are now taking further steps to speed up this process.

The government of Senegal has just validated its 2023-2027 digitalization plan for the judiciary sector. The authorities did so during a workshop held on July 13. 

The project should cost $13.7 million and result in the establishment of a digital public service of justice that will benefit all of the sector’s actors and users. 

"The ownership and implementation of the digital plan for justice by all actors will bring about a revolution in the functioning of justice by allowing faster decisions, simplifying procedures and steps with a more transparent dimension of the procedures. In addition, it will enable users to reduce travel, and magistrates and ministry staff to improve daily work," said Ismaïla Madior Fall, Senegalese Minister of Justice.

In 2016, Senegal adopted its National Digital strategy which aims to digitize approximately 700 administrative procedures. Many investments have been made to ensure this digital transformation in various sectors of activity. Last June, Dakar released $49.8 million as part of the National Program for the Digitalization of the Health System.

For the second half of this year, Ismaïla Madior Fall explained that the project will focus among other things "on the digitization of the process for issuing legal documents and criminal records, the collection of fines, electronic archiving, naturalization, electronic mail management".

Furthermore, the project aims to adapt the texts to dematerialization, to make the working environment suitable; to give citizens remote access to judicial services by dematerializing all judicial procedures; to operationalize alternative justice; to protect children, or to have management tools for the judicial sector.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

Kenya has introduced its digital sex offender registry as part of ongoing digitization efforts across all sectors, including the justice system. By doing so, the government aims to significantly reduce sexual assaults on women and children and facilitate the identification of perpetrators.

On Monday 26, Martha Koome, the Chief Justice of Kenya, unveiled the country's first digital sex offender registry at the Kibera Law Courts. The registry comprises a comprehensive database containing crucial information about convicted sex offenders. 

11. The Register, established under the Sexual Offences Act, serves as a crucial database, holding the records of all convicted offenders. By automating this Register, we will ensure easy access to information on convicted sex offenders, facilitating expedited justice. pic.twitter.com/OW7FArbZvC

— Hon. Justice Martha K. Koome, EGH (@CJMarthaKoome) June 26, 2023

During this ceremony, she stated: "The implementation of the automated registry is a vital tool for protecting the public from sex offenders. By providing accessible information, we empower individuals to take necessary precautions and create an environment that discourages such offenses."

In recent years, Kenya faced an upsurge in sexual offenses. This created so many challenges to the safety and well-being of its citizens. The digital registry will bolster government efforts against this menace. 

Before this action, the government took some measures to fight sexual offenses in Kenya. In 2008 for example, Legal Notice No. 133, supplementing the Sexual Offenses Act, mandated the director of the Criminal Investigations Department to establish a DNA database of dangerous sex offenders.

This digital tool will be useful for key stakeholders in Kenya's justice system in tracking and monitoring sex offenders after their release from prison. It will also help the public to access information about sex offenders residing in their neighborhoods. Thus, they can take precautionary measures to protect themselves and their children.

Through this, Kenya joins other countries that have implemented sex offender registries. In 2007, South Africa established a similar registry. Unfortunately, it is kept confidential and not open to the public. 

Samira Njoya

Like many African countries, Lesotho is undergoing digital transformation. The country has digitized some strategic government services and now targets new ones. 

Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL) launched, on March 14, an online collection system that allows taxpayers to file tax returns and pay dues online.  According to a release issued by the government, the electronic service aims to expand the use of technology and facilitate tax payments. 

For some time now, the Southern African Customs Union's (SACU) revenue has been declining, according to Finance Minister Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane (photo).  As a result, the country is receiving fewer and fewer resources to finance the national budget.  

So, to complement those revenues, Lesotho is implementing a set of measures (including the launch of the new system) to facilitate the collection of taxes and duties citizens and businesses owe the state.  

According to Ms. Mathabo Mokoko, the acting commissioner general of the RSL, the new system will greatly facilitate tax filing and payment while reducing transportation costs and the fees needed for manual procedures. 

Samira Njoya

Human resources are one of the key components for the success of every firm, organization, or institution. However, identifying the best professionals sometimes takes a huge amount of time. With his deep-leaning tool, Mouhidine Seiv shortens the curve.

Mouhidine Seiv (photo) is a Mauritanian entrepreneur and data scientist. In 2016, he founded HrFlow.ai (formerly known as Riminder.net.) to leverage artificial intelligence to help firms hire better human resources for improved efficiency.  

HrFlow.ai allows "recruiters to identify three times more talent while interviewing four times fewer candidates by analyzing millions of resumes worldwide. We have developed deep learning algorithms to evaluate and classify every part of a candidate's profile: experience, projects, and education. This technique allows us to achieve unparalleled relevance," Mouhidine Seiv told  French magazine Décideurs in 2017.

Beyond its recruitment assistance services, HrFlow.ai also assists companies and vendors in their General Data Protection Regulation, privacy regulations, algorithmic consent constraints, and fairness requirements compliance procedures. 

From 2016 to date, through HrFlow.ai, Mouhidine Seiv has helped more than a hundred firms automate their human resources data management. The tech entrepreneur is a former visiting assistant professor of deep learning at CentraleSupélec, the graduate engineering school of Paris-Saclay University. In 2017, Leade.rs ranked him among the eight under-30 emerging entrepreneurs to watch in France. Some years later, he also made it to Forbes’ “30 under 30” list. 

Melchior Koba

After an extensive professional career, he decided to go back to his native country and offer effective data management solutions. 

Philippe Nkouaya (photo) is a Cameroonian entrepreneur and founder of Philjohn Technologies, an IT services and consulting startup. Through the startup he founded in 2017, he offers firms sustainable solutions for quick file processing and sorting. 

The startup was created following its founder’s insurance coverage issues. “It took [the insurer] close to a year to process my claim just because I was unable to find my files,” Philippe explains. After that incident, he decided to find solutions so that firms can find any file in “under three seconds.” 

He is nowadays a reference in Cameroon. He graduated from The Limoges Computer Sciences Engineering School with a Master’s in Computer Science in 2016. But, his professional career began four years earlier in the entertainment industry. That year, he became the manager of Hope Music Group in Cameroon. In 2014, in conjunction with his duties at Hope Music Group, he was also an assistant IT manager for the communication firm Global Link. 

In 2016, he worked as a business intelligence analyst at Business & Decision Group and then as an external IT consultant at Sanofi Pasteur, France.  In 2017, he became the Chairman of Hope Music Group, in conjunction with his duties as chairman of Hope Clothing. When he launched Philjohn Technologies, he was a member of the board of Hope Management & Consulting (HOMCO).

Philippe Nkouaya is an E-Ambassador for Campus France. He also won several awards for his works in the digital entrepreneurship sector. He is for instance one of the beneficiaries of the 2018 TEF entrepreneurship program.  In 2018, he received the Francophonie 35 under 35 Youth Awards and was named best digital entrepreneur at the Bonteh Digital Media Awards. That same year, he was also on Avance Media's list of the Top 50 most influential young Cameroonians. 

Melchior Koba

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